Your Right to Know

State lawmakers publicly savored their summer break today by honoring a group of young NASCAR
drivers at the statehouse.

“The governor is fishing, and I’m doing NASCAR. It’s a good day in Ohio,” Lt. Gov. Mary Tyler
said, presenting an executive order declaring July 10 NASCAR Day.

Three professional drivers and NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton attended the
ceremony, where they received honorary resolutions by both the House and Senate.

Afterword, the group posed for photos near a nationwide-sponsored race car parked on the
statehouse lawn.

NASCAR, through its various racing circuits, will host ten races in Ohio in the next two months,
including two at the Columbus Motor Speedway.

“The past three races I’ve been in Columbus over two years the crowds have been wonderful,”
professional driver Darrell Wallace, Jr. said. “You have a lot of fans who didn’t think were fans
that come out.”

Those fans form a demographic eagerly sought by politicians, and the term
NASCAR dad has been used to describe a set of male, middle-class voters considered
essential to Republican election success.

Of course, Taylor and the GOP lawmakers who attended the event didn’t forget to mention the
economy. They hailed NASCAR as an opportunity to create jobs, particularly through Nationwide
Insurance and Goodyear tires, which both sponsor racing teams.

“The impact of what NASCAR does for the state of Ohio, it is enormous,” State Sen. Jim Hughes,
R-Columbus, said.